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title: Glossary
layout: handbook
---

<div class="row">
    <div class="span4">
        <ul class="nav nav-list span3">
        
            <li class="nav-header">Introduction</li>
            
                <li><a href="ch001_introduction.html">Introduction</a></li>
            
                <li><a href="ch002_working-with-others.html">Working with others</a></li>
            
                <li><a href="ch003_gov-gov-collaboration.html">Helping the government help itself</a></li>
            
        
            <li class="nav-header">Data Literacy</li>
            
                <li><a href="ch005_introduction-to-data-literacy.html">Data-driven advocacy and research</a></li>
            
                <li><a href="ch006_types-of-data.html">Types of data</a></li>
            
                <li><a href="ch007_getting-cleaning.html">Getting & cleaning data</a></li>
            
                <li><a href="ch008_anaysis.html">Analysis</a></li>
            
                <li><a href="ch009_ngo-ngo-collaboration.html">Using technology in your work</a></li>
            
        
            <li class="nav-header">Presentation and engagement</li>
            
                <li><a href="ch011_defining-the-scopetopic.html">Presentation and engagement</a></li>
            
                <li><a href="ch012_selecting-methods-and-tools.html">Selecting methods and tools</a></li>
            
        
            <li class="nav-header">Appendices</li>
            
                <li><a href="ch014_resources.html">Resources</a></li>
            
                <li><a href="ch015_glossary.html">Glossary</a></li>
            
        
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    <div class="span8">
        <div><h2>Glossary</h2>
<h4>aggregated</h4>
<p>data that is summarized using statistical methods or by simply summing its component parts</p>
<h4>API</h4>
<p>Application Programming Interface: a specification allowing two pieces of software to interface with each other, without either having knowledge of the inner workings of the other</p>
<h4>backlog</h4>
<p>a list of tasks prepared by the project manager</p>
<h4>bulk data</h4>
<p>refers to the entirety of a dataset, instead of the incremental amounts that may be retrieval via other means, such as an API</p>
<h4>CSO</h4>
<p>Civil Service Organizations: a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any form of government in the interest of civil society. Also commonly referred to as NGOs.</p>
<h4>CSV</h4>
<p>Comma Separated Values: A format for transactional data that separates each column value by a comma. Can be imported and exported from most spreadsheet programs</p>
<h4>database query language</h4>
<p>a syntax for interacting with data in a database. Usually specific to the software being used</p>
<h4>hacker</h4>
<p>one who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming (like a 'coder' - but more energetic :) )</p>
<h4>hackday</h4>
<p>a session where hackers come together to answer a particular task</p>
<h4>iteration</h4>
<p>a period of a defined length during which changes to a project can be made. Usually ends in a review meeting to plan the next iteration.</p>
<h4>JSON&#160;</h4>
<p>Javascript Object Notation: a data format that is relatively easy for humans to read and write and very easy for machines to read and parse</p>
<h4>Mirroring</h4>
<p>creating an entire copy of a website on another server, primarily for backup</p>
<h4>MySQL</h4>
<p>(pronounced "My Sequel" or "MY S-Q-L"): Open source relational database software</p>
<h4>nominatim</h4>
<p>A web service which turns place names and addresses into coordinates so that they can be mapped / associated with an administrative area</p>
<h4>PostgreSQL</h4>
<p>(abbreviated Postgres): Open source object relational database software, a query language similar (but not identical) to that in MySQL is used</p>
<h4>OCR</h4>
<p>Optical Character Recognition: the electronic conversion of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text</p>
<h4>reference data</h4>
<p>data from outside an organisation (often from standards organisations) which is, apart from occasional revisions, static</p>
<h4>scope creep</h4>
<p>When a project's scope slowly and steadily increases, without a formal re-examination of the original terms and requirements</p>
<h4>shapefile</h4>
<p>a file format for geospatial vector data that is primarily used to feed data into mapping applications</p>
<h4>Tilemill</h4>
<p>Hosted and open source mapping software for creating maps</p>
<h4>user story</h4>
<p>short descriptions that outline in plain language the different use cases and possibilities for different types of users for the purposes of determining software requirements</p>
<h4>vector data</h4>
<p>a type of image composed of connected points rather than pixels</p>
<h4>XML</h4>
<p>eXtensible Markup Language: a markup language created to structure, store, and transport data by defining a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable.</p>
<p>Some of the above entries contain excerpts from Wikipedia.org and the Jargon File v. 4.4.8</p></div>
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